Biographical Statements for Technical Advisory Committee Members

Heidi Andrade, Ph.D.

Heidi L. Andrade is Associate Professor at the University of Albany. Her research and teaching focus on assessment and self-regulated learning, with an emphasis on student self-assessment. She has worked with schools nationwide to promote learning-centered assessment, and has collaborated on creating thinking-centered curricula, television shows and software. She received her doctorate in education from Harvard University.

Randy Bennett, Ph.D.

Randy Bennett is the Norman O. Frederiksen Chair in Assessment Innovation for the Research and Development Division of the Educational Testing Service (ETS) in Princeton, New Jersey.

From 1999 through 2005, Bennett directed the NAEP Technology Based Assessment project, which explored the use of computerized testing for the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). He received the ETS Senior Scientist Award in 1996 and the ETS Career Achievement Award in 2005. Bennett is a graduate of the doctoral program at Teachers College, Columbia University.

Derek C. Briggs, Ph.D.

Derek Briggs is associate professor, Research and Evaluation Methodology in the School of Education at the University of Colorado at Boulder.

Briggs received the American Educational Research Association (AERA) Division D Mary Catherine Ellwein Outstanding Dissertation Award. He serves on the Editorial Board for Educational Assessment. Briggs received his Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley.

Susan M. Brookhart, Ph.D.

Susan M. Brookhart is Professor Emerita in the School of Education at Duquesne University and an independent educational consultant and author based in Helena, Montana.

Dr. Brookhart was the 2007-2009 Editor of Educational Measurement: Issues and Practice, and is currently an Associate Editor of Applied Measurement in Education. She is author or co-author of seventeen books and over 70 articles and book chapters on classroom assessment, teacher professional development, and evaluation. She serves on the editorial boards of several journals and on several national advisory panels. She has been named the 2014 Jason Millman Scholar by the Consortium for Research on Educational Assessment and Teaching Effectiveness (CREATE) and is the recipient of the 2015 Samuel J. Messick Memorial Lecture Award from ETS/TOEFL.

Dr. Brookhart’s research interests include the role of both formative and summative classroom assessment in student motivation and achievement, the connection between classroom assessment and large-scale assessment, and grading. Dr. Brookhart also works with schools, districts, regional educational service units, universities, and states doing professional development. Dr. Brookhart received her Ph.D. in Educational Research and Evaluation from The Ohio State University, after teaching in both elementary and middle schools. She was a full-time faculty member at Duquesne University from 1989 through 2003, most recently as Professor and Chair of the Department of Educational Foundations and Leadership.

Gregory J. Cizek, Ph.D.

Gregory Cizek is professor of Educational Measurement and Evaluation at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is the recipient of the 2006 AERA Division D award for Significant Contribution to Educational Measurement and Research Methodology and the 2007 recipient of the National Council on Measurement in Education award for Outstanding Dissemination of Educational Measurement Concepts. He served from 2007–2009 as an appointed member of the National Assessment Governing Board (NAGB), which oversees the National Assessment of Educational Progress. Cizek received his Ph.D. from Michigan State University.

Shelbi Cole, Ph.D.

Shelbi Cole is a Senior Content Specialist on the Mathematics team at Student Achievement Partners. She develops and reviews materials that align to the shifts required by college- and career-ready standards.

Shelbi was the Deputy Director of Content and Director of Mathematics for Smarter Balanced as well as a high school mathematics teacher. She also served as co-chair of the Smarter Balanced performance task work group. She has been working on a range of projects in curriculum development, teacher professional learning, and pre-service teacher education. Shelbi holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Mathematics Education and a doctoral degree in Educational Psychology from the University of Connecticut.

David Conley, Ph.D.

David Conley is Professor of Educational Policy and Leadership in the College of Education, University of Oregon. He is the founder and director of the Center for Educational Policy Research at the University of Oregon, and founder and chief executive officer of the Educational Policy Improvement Center. Since 2008, Conley has served as Special Consultant to the Chief Operating Officer of the College Board, New York. He has also served as Special Advisor to the College Board. Conley received his doctoral degree from the University of Colorado at Boulder.

Brian Gong, Ph.D.

Brian Gong is the executive director of the non-profit National Center for the Improvement of Educational Assessment, Inc. (Center for Assessment). He served as co-chair of the Validation Committee for the Common Core State Standards published by the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers. By invitation from the U.S. Department of Education, Gong was a part of the team that wrote the No Child Left Behind Peer Review Guidance for Accountability Systems and the Growth Model Pilot. Gong received his Ph.D. from Stanford University.

Edward Haertel, Ph.D.

Edward Haertel is the Jacks Family Professor of Education, Emeritus at the Stanford University School of Education. Haertel has served as president of the National Council on Measurement in Education, chairs the Technical Advisory Committee concerned with California’s school accountability system, and chairs the National Research Council’s Board on Testing and Assessment (BOTA), and from 2000 to 2003 chaired the Committee on Standards, Design, and Methodology of the National Assessment Governing Board (NAGB). Haertel received his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in Measurement, Evaluation and Statistical Analysis.

Gerunda Hughes, Ph.D.

Dr. Gerunda Burke Hughes is currently the Director of the Office of Institutional Assessment and Evaluation in the Office of the Provost and Chief Academic Officer at Howard University and Professor in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction in the School of Education. In her faculty position, she served as Coordinator of Secondary Education Programs and taught courses in mathematics methods, assessment and measurement, and research methodology. She has also taught courses in the Department of Mathematics and the Center for Academic Reinforcement (CAR). Dr. Hughes has a B.S. in Mathematics from the University of Rhode Island; a M.A. in Mathematics from the University of Maryland, College Park; and a Ph.D. in Educational Psychology from Howard University.

G. Gage Kingsbury, Ph.D.

Gage Kingsbury is a private psychometric consultant providing advice and development work in the application of technology to practical assessment situations. Kingsbury designed the first adaptive tests used in educational settings, and helped to design adaptive tests that are currently administered to K-12 students in every state. Kingsbury currently serves as the president of the International Association for Computerized Adaptive Testing. He is also an associate editor for the Journal of Computerized Adaptive Testing. He serves as a research fellow for the Hong Kong Institute of Education and has received the Award for Outstanding Contributions to Educational Assessment from National Association of Test Directors. He founded the Center for Research on Academic Growth at NWEA (since renamed the Kingsbury Center). Kingsbury holds a Ph.D. in psychology from the University of Minnesota.

Joseph Martineau, Ph.D.

Dr. Joseph Martineau has served Michigan students and educators as Deputy Superintendent of Accountability Services, Executive Director of the Bureau of Assessment and Accountability, Director of the Office of Educational Assessment and Accountability, Manager of General Populations Assessment, and a Psychometrician of the Michigan Department of Education since 2004. Additionally, he has been a member of the Michigan Council on Educator Effectiveness; a Board member of the National Council on Measurement in Education; and Co-Chair of Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium. Martineau earned his Bachelor of Arts Degree and Master of Science Degree from Brigham Young University and his Doctorate of Philosophy from Michigan State University.

James W. Pellegrino, Ph.D.

James Pellegrino is Liberal Arts and Sciences Distinguished Professor and Distinguished Professor of Education at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He is a Fellow of AERA, a lifetime National Associate of the National Academy of Sciences and a past member of the Board on Testing and Assessment of the National Research Council. In 2007 he was elected to lifetime membership in the National Academy of Education. Pellegrino received his Ph.D. from the University of Colorado.

Barbara Plake, Ph.D.

Barbara Plake is Professor Emeritus at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. She served as co-chair (with Lauress Wise) of the Joint Committee for the 2014 Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing. She earned her Ph.D. in Educational Statistics and Measurement in 1976 from the University of Iowa. She worked as a Research Associate for American College Testing before joining the faculty in the Department of Educational Psychology at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 1977. In 1988 she become the Director of the Buros Center for Testing. While at the University of Nebraska, she received the University-wide Foundations Award for Distinguished Teaching in 1985 and received the W.C. Meierhenry Distinguished University Professorship in 1991. She is the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Association of Test Publishers and the Career Award from the National Council on Measurement. She is a Fellow of Division 5 of the American Psychological Association and a Fellow of the American Educational Research Association. She retired from UNL in 2006 and now serves as an independent consultant for many organizations, states, and federal programs.

W. James Popham, Ph.D.

James Popham is Professor Emeritus, Graduate School of Education and Information Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Popham is a past president and fellowof AERA. He was also the founding editor of Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, a quarterly journal published by AERA. At UCLA he won several distinguished teaching awards. In January 2000, he was recognized by UCLA Today as one of UCLA’s top 20 professors of the 20th Century. In 2002, the National Council on Measurement in Education presented him with its Award for Career Contributions to Educational Measurement. In 2009, he was appointed to the National Assessment Governing Board. Popham received his Ed.D. from Indiana University.

Guillermo Solano-Flores, Ph.D.

Dr. Guillermo Solano-Flores is Professor of Education at the Stanford University Graduate School of Education. He specializes in educational assessment and the linguistic and cultural issues that are relevant to both international test comparisons and the testing of cultural and linguistic minorities. His research is based on the use of multidisciplinary approaches that use psychometrics, sociolinguistics, semiotics, and cognitive science in combination. He has conducted research on the development, translation, localization, and review of science and mathematics tests. He has been principal investigator in several National Science Foundation-funded projects that have examined the intersection of psychometrics, semiotics, and linguistics in testing. He is the author of the theory of test translation error, which addresses testing across cultures and languages. Also, he has investigated the use of generalizability theory—a psychometric theory of measurement error—in the testing of English language learners and indigenous populations. He has advised Latin American countries on the development of national assessment systems. Also, he has been the advisor to countries in Latin America, Asia, Europe, Middle East, and Northern Africa on the adaptation and translation of performance tasks into multiple languages.

Martha Thurlow, Ph.D.

Martha Thurlow is the director for the National Center on Educational Outcomes and Senior Research Associate, Educational Psychology at the University of Minnesota. Thurlow has performed research in areas including early childhood education, assessment and decision making, learning disabilities, dropout prevention, effective classroom instruction, and integration of students with disabilities in general education settings. Her research has yielded over 200 articles and reports. She served on the CCSSO-NGA Common Core State Standards Initiative Validation Committee. Thurlow received her Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota.

Sheila Valencia, Ph.D.

Sheila Valencia is Professor of Language, Literacy, and Culture at the University of Washington, Seattle. She teaches and conducts research in the areas of literacy assessment, instruction, policy, and teacher development. Dr. Valencia has served on national, state, and local assessment committees to improve assessment systems and policies including the Common Core Standards Advisory Panel on Literacy, National Assessment of Educational Progress subcommittees, and IRA/NCTE standards and assessment committees. She has also served on the editorial boards of Educational Researcher, Educational Assessment, Reading Research Quarterly, Journal of Literacy Research, and The Reading Teacher. In addition, Dr. Valencia studies the professional development of teachers’ conceptual and practical knowledge of literacy and literacy instruction. Dr. Valencia’s work has appeared in edited books and numerous journals including Reading Research Quarterly, Educational Assessment, Journal of Teacher Education, Elementary School Journal, Journal of Literacy Research, and The Reading Teacher. She is also a member of the Reading Hall of Fame.

Joe Willhoft, Ph.D.

Joe Willhoft was Smarter Balanced first executive director. He began work on Smarter Balanced as Washington state’s representative as part of his role as Assistant Superintendent for Assessment and Student Information. Willhoft lead the development of the Smarter Balanced system from conception to operation. His more than 40-year education career includes teaching at all levels, from elementary through graduate school; management roles at the school, district and state levels; and 26 years of assessment development and oversight. Willhoft stepped down from his position as Executive Director of Smarter Balanced in December 2014 and is now a senior technical and strategic advisor for the consortium a well as a member of the National Assessment Governing Board.